Potato-sorter.



W. T. ROUTSONG.

' POTATO SORTER.

APPLICATION man MAY2e..191s. 1 ,274,085. Patented July 30,1918.

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w. T. ROUTSONG.

POTATO SORTER. Y APPLICATION FILED MAY 26. |916.

Patented July so, 19m

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WARREN '.r. IzoI'ITsoNGr,l or TRAvEnsE CITY, MICHIGAN.

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To all rwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WARREN a citizen ofthe United. States, and a resident of Traverse City, in the county of .Grand Traverse and State of Michigan, Yhave in-Y vented a new and Improved Potato-Sorter, of which the following is a full, clear, and

exact description.

The object of theinvention is to provide a new and improved potato sorter or grader for potatoes andthe like and whichisr simple and durable in construction, easily'l moved about from *one place to another. and

. arranged to separate the potatoes into large,

medium and small Sizes, at the same jtiine freeing themrfrom the sand or soil usually adhering to or intermingled with the rpotatoes when harvested. l.

In order to accomplish the desired 4result, use is madey of an inclined shaker mounted to swing f forward and Abackward and having triple decks, each deck being provided in its bottom with screening means, the screening means of the uppery deck being coarser than the screening-means of the vsecond deck andthe screening means of the lowermost deck being fine, the two upper decks beingprovided at their lower ends with delectors extendin y obliquely infop-V posite directions g to de iver the assorted large and medium sizedpotatoes in diierent piles, the lower end of the llowermostdeck terminating a distance from the lower'ends Y of the other two decks to deliver the small screening means of the lowermost deck..

Use is also made of an agitator overlying thescreening means and inthe form of fixed open inesh frame to dislodge any plof tatoes caught in the meshes of the lscreening means; d *i A practical embodiment ofthe Invention is represented in the accompanyingdraw-I ings forming apart of this specification in whichsimilar .characters of reference indicate corresponding `parts in all the views,"

potato sorter on the line 1-1 of Fig. 2; Y Y

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a erspective view-of the lower end of the sha er; and

Fig. 4 is a perspective vlew of one of the v agitators.

Application led May 26, 191,6. Serial No. 799,973.1Y

T. RoU'rsoNG,

Specification of Letters Patent. ,Y PatentedJ 3(1),

The iinprovedfpotato sorter is mounted on a .suitably` constructed. frame 10,1in' which" ismounted to swing forward and backward an inclined shakerll hung on links 12 and 13" ulcrumed on fthe main-frame 10. By-the arrangementV described the shaker 11 jean be yreadily swungl in the 4direction of its" leno'th either "byV hand or by power; The

shaker '11 is provided withtriple decks 14, 15 and 16,' of which Athe upper deck.14.is'-

open at the ends and at: the top andits bottom 17 is providedwith an opening 18 cov-A ered by a'coarse screen'19 to allow large-j sizedlv potatoes to roll down., thelsereen "19 while medium sizedfand *small potatoes 'can` readily passv through @the meshes ofthe screen 19 and through theopjeningflS intoA thedeck 15. The deck`15 has thef lippenv i* portion of its bottom 20 inV the-'form of 'ja screen 21 of a mesh to allow'` the s'*In'allpotatoes; orl culls to pass throughthe meshes while themedium sized potatoes'roll down the,k screen. VThe Vsmall potatoes `or' jcnlls drop into th'elower'deck 1 6 which is provided in its bottom with a screen 22 in the form vof longitudinaljbars raised say half aninch apart tojall'ow` the small potatoes or culls to roll jdown Ithe Vscreen'while'the sand or spoil readily drops through the screen to the ground below.y .The intermediate deck 15 begins a short distance above the opening 18.,.in the bottom 17 of. the upper deck 14 but terminates at'its lower end flush with the lower end of the' upper deck 14. The lower deck' 16 has its upperA end 23 closed while the upper end 'of the intermediate deck-15 is openv andthe lower end 'ofV thelower deck lvterm'inates a vdistance from the lowerv ends of the other twode'cks 14 and 15 softhat the small 'potatoes orculls drop to the ground at a point intermediate large and medium si'zedy potatoes 'delivered' A jdeiectors 0"aid 31'fdisposed 'obliqiu-ily?in gure 1 is a longitudinal central section" rof the the left, as will be readily understood by refereneeto the arrows shown in Fig. 3.

The potatoes to be sorted or graded are delivered to the upper end of the uppermost deck 14 and for this purpose use is made of a hopper 40 mounted on the upper end of the main frame 10. The hopper 40 is provided with a V-shaped bottom, of which one portion is provided with an inclined screen 41 down which roll the potatoes to an opening 42 in the other member 43 of the V-shaped bottom. ,The opening 42 is controlled by a door 44 connected at its upper end by hinges 45 with the member 43 at the upper wall of the opening 42. The door 44 is pivotally connected with a rod 46 provided with ratchet teeth 47 adapted to be engaged with the upper edge of a cross board 48 forming part of the main frame 10. The rod 46 can be readily adjusted by the operator to swing the door 44 into a more or less open position to control the amount of potatoes passing from the hopper 40 by way of the opening 42 onto the upper end of the bottom 17 of the upper shaker deck 14.

It is understood that by imparting' a swinging motion'to the inclined shaker 11 the potatoes readily roll down the bottom 17 and over the screen 19 on which the medium sized and smaller potatoes drop through the meshes of thescreen 19 down into the deck 15 while the larger potatoes keep on rolling down the screen 19 and over the lower end of the bottom 17 to be finally discharged to one side of the machine, as previously explained. The medium and smaller potatoes are separated on the screen 21 and the medium potatoes roll down this screen and onto the lower portion yof the bottom 20 to be then discharged to the other side of theshaker in a pile separate from the one containing the large potatoes. The small potatoes or culls roll'down the screen 22 and are discharged at the lower end of the deck 16.

In order to aid the movement of the potatoes in their downward travel in the shaker 11 and to separate the sand or soil from the potatoes, use is made of a bumper 50 eX- tending from the sides of the upper end of the shaker 11 and adapted to be bumped against the upper portion of the main frame 10 to produce a percussion action of the shaker for the purpose mentioned.

Inorder to dislodge any potatoes that may be caught in the meshes ofthe screens 19 and 21 use is made of agitators 60 and 61 overlying the screens 19 yand 21 and alike in Copies of this patent may be obtainedy for construction so that it is only necessary to describe but one in detail. Each agitator is in the form of an open or skeleton frame having side bars 62 connected with each other by spaced crossbars 63, as plainly indicated in Figs. 2 and 4. The upper ends of the side bars 62 are pivotally connected with links 64V ulcrumed at their upper ends at 65 on the main frame 10. Vhen the shaker 11 is swung 'forward and backward then the crossbars 63 sweep over the meshes of the screens 19 and 21 thus dislodging any potatoes that may have been caught in the meshes of the said screens 19 and 21. The side bars 62 are provided with guides 6G slidingly engaging the inner faces of the sides of the decks 14 and 15 so as to hold the agitators and 61 against lateral movement.

The potato sorter shown and described is simple and durable inconstruction and composed of comparatively few parts not liable to get easily out of order.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent: v

1. A potato sorter provided with an inclined'shaker having in its bottom a screen, means for supporting the shaker to allow of swinging the same in the direction of its length, an open mesh agitator overlying the screen and having guides at the sides in sliding contact with the sides of the shaker, and a link fixed at one end and pivotally connected with theend of the said agitator,

said agitator held against longitudinal movement within the shaker and with respect to the same.

2. In a potato sorter, a main frame, an inclined shaker having in its bottom a screen, means for supporting the shaker in the frame to allow it to swing in the direction of its length, an agitator formed of side bars and cross bars and overlying the screen of the shaker, said agitator being provided with guide members projecting from its side bars and engaging the sides of the shaker, and links having one end pivoted to the side bars of the agitator and their other ends pivoted to the frame, said agitator being held against longitudinal movement within the shaker and with respectr to the same, by said links.

WARREN rr. RoUTsoNG. 

